Writing a Well-Organized Email (Part Three)

Hi Diane,

I hope 2023 is off to a good start for you and your colleagues. We are having a great year so far at Hilltop Realtors, Inc.

In the last three months of 2022, we sold a total of five commercial properties in the city of Hilltop. The first property was 101 Main Street, which sold for $599,999. The second was 25 Hilltop Boulevard, which sold for $425,000. The third was 500 West Second Street, Unit 2, which sold for $399,000. The fourth property was 500 West Second Street, Unit 4, which sold for $295,000. The last one was 202 East Fourth Street, which sold for $850,000.

We have another sale pending, plus two more on the market. Please let me know if you need any additional information.

Have a great week,

Andre

While the above email isn’t as “messy” as the example email we used in Part One and Part Two of our series on writing a well-organized email, the middle paragraph needs some work. The language is repetitive and all those numbers are confusing. It would be much more effective to make a list of those properties using bullet points.

When should a writer use bullet points?

Bullet points are a great way to organize information in an email, PowerPoint presentation, or a resume/CV. They break the information down into short segments that are easy to read.

Without any further ado, here are some bullet points about how to use bullet points:

• Bullet points should be brief, just one or two lines.
• You do not have to use complete sentences, but if you do, be sure to put a period at the end of each sentence.
• You can use bullet points to make step-by-step instructions on how to do something.
• Be sure that your bullet points have a consistent style/structure.

Let’s take another look at that example email…

For our example email, we will leave the first and last paragraphs as-is. We will replace the lengthy paragraph in the middle with a shorter one. This will be followed by five bullet points, one for each property.

Hi Diane,

I hope 2023 is off to a good start for you and your colleagues. We are having a great year so far at Hilltop Realtors, Inc.

In the last three months of 2022, we sold a total of five commercial properties in the city of Hilltop. The addresses and selling prices are as follows:

• 101 Main Street ($599,999)
• 25 Hilltop Boulevard ($425,000)
• 500 West Second Street, Unit 2 ($399,000)
• 500 West Second Street, Unit 4 ($295,000)
• 202 East Fourth Street ($850,000)

We have another sale pending, plus two more on the market. Please let me know if you need any additional information.

Have a great week,

Andre

With bullet points, this email is better organized, making it a lot easier to read. If Diane is looking for information about a specific property, she can find it right away.